The draft of Twin Hills Stud had drawn plenty of interest by the eve of the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale on Monday, with a colt and a filly from the first crop by Encryption, one of a handful of Southern Hemisphere-bred Kingman (GB) yearlings in the Sale and a filly by Hellbent raising chatter around the complex.

But it is a colt by Shalaa (Ire) that had plenty of admirers at in the short time TDN AusNZ had with a very busy Tait.

“I think we’ve got a nice, consistent bunch of horses,’’ said Tait. “There are, though, a few that are very noteworthy,’’ he said, as Lot 495 was brought straight back on parade before being able to get to his stall following an inspection by the Chris Waller Racing team.

Lot 495, by Shalaa, is out of Sense And Reason (Exceed And Excel). Described by Tait as ‘a really high-class race mare’ she won five races in Sydney, was a $150,000 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale purchase and her first foal, Belieber (Zoustar) was a talented 2-year-old.

“This Shalaa colt has been very well-received,’’ Tait said. “He’s got a lovely shape to him, he’s a good mover and he’s going down very well.’’

Smart Missile hits the mark

Twin Hills has two colts by its standing stallion Smart Missile in its Book 1 draft, and another on its way to the Gold Coast to follow on in Book 2. Now with his second crop of yearlings bred on the Cootamundra farm in the Sale, Smart Missile has made a huge difference to Twin Hills since he arrived there in 2018, commented Tait.

The pick of the two colts by Smart Missile in the Twin Hills draft comes at Lot 762, Tait saying he’s a beautifully athletic horse, strong and with a lovely shape to him and comes from a great-producing mare, Asylum Seeker (SAf) (Count Dubois {GB})

“She was a Champion 2-year-old herself in South Africa and she’s produced a filly that was placed in the ATC Oaks,’’ Tait said.

Asylum Seeker was a South African Group 1 winner and opened her account as a 2-year-old with four wins and two seconds from her first six starts, claiming a Group 2 and the Group 1 win in that process. All six of her foals to race have been winners, with Scarlet Dream (Sebring) a runner-up in the G1 ATC Oaks.

Lot 762 – Smart Missile x Asylum Seeker (SAf) (colt)

Gallery: Twin Hills’ Smart Missile yearlings to be offered at Magic Millions, images courtesy of Magic Millions

“He looks like a horse who will come to hand fairly quickly and really he’s an impressive colt,’’ Tait said. “And the Smart Missile in Lot 305 is out of a city-winning Lonhro mare, My Obsession, and is from a very active family. He’s a good mover, a medium-sized horse but very athletic and with a lovely action to him,’’ Tait added.

Encryption’s first praised

The first crop from Encryption, who stands at Queensland’s Eureka Stud for a fee of $13,200 (inc GST) are being admired, and Lots 874 and 68 for Twin Hills, are among those on the list, in particular the filly out of Consolation (Medaglia D’Oro {USA}), who’s dam and second dam Altar (Commands) and Hosannah (Octagonal {NZ}) both won the G2 Magic Night S. and were both placed at Group 1 level.

“She is lovely pedigreed, and from that Ingham/Godolphin family. She’s a gorgeous filly, very strong and, while from Encryption’s first crop, she’s one of the more popular fillies in our draft,’’ Tait said.

The Encryption colt, Lot 68, is a half-brother to a Group 3 winner, Eight Till Late (Lonhro) out of Future Choice (Redoute’s Choice), Tait praising his shape and good attitude.

Plenty to be interested in

‘Interest’ and ‘Interesting’ were two words used often by Tait as he worked through other yearlings across the Twin Hills Stud draft.

“Obviously Russian Revolution is off to an encouraging start at stud having had three winners so far. Russian Conquest is coming up for the Magic Millions (2YO Classic) on Saturday and is out of an imported American mare, and is by Russian Revolution,’’ Tait said.

“That’s interesting to us because our Russian Revolution, a lovely, athletic filly, beautiful mover and very straightforward, is also out of an imported American mare.”

Lot 240 is a Russian Revolution filly out of Majestic Trick (USA) (Hat Trick {Jpn}). This is her first foal.

Darley’s Harry Angel (Ire) also has his first yearlings on sale in Australia at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale and the Twin Hills-bred colt out of Monopole (High Chaparral {Ire}) (Lot 279) is a good example from a sire from which there’s a lot of talk around the sales grounds. He was bred for long-term client Robert Hill-Smith, the former Yalumba Wines chief, based in South Australia’s Barossa Valley.

“He’s a big, strong colt, and among the first of the Harry Angels, and there’s been a lot of talk about the Harry Angels around the sales grounds,’’ Tait said. “He’s probably a horse who is going to be better suited over a mile, being out of a High Chaparral mare, he’s a big physical horse and he’s got an incredibly good stride on him.’’

With only four Southern Hemisphere-bred Kingman (GB) yearlings in the catalogue, Tait said he’d find selling his filly out of Urban Rocket (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) at Lot 657 very interesting.

“Given there’s only a handful of those (three fillies and a colt). She’s the first foal. She’s very strong, she looks like one that will come to hand very early. She’s been a nice foal since she was born and she’s seemed to have impressed since she’s been here at the sales,’’ Tait summarised.

And Miss Hellfire’s (Hellbent) win in the Aquis Gold Pearl on Saturday certainly has stirred some interest in Hellbent‘s stock at the Sale, and that was very encouraging for Tait and the Twin Hills team.

“When the stallions have runners they’ve got to perform. We can be very hard on that because it can be all a matter of timing. There’s a very short window of time where stallions have first 2-year-olds leading up to Magic Millions, and we expect a lot of them.

Gallery: Some of Twin Hills’ yearling being offered at Magic Millions, images courtesy of Magic Millions

“Hellbent was a horse where there have been high expectations of him because he covered a large number of good mares and they sold very well, so it was nice to see him get that winner on Saturday. And she won impressively. Anyone who is selling a Hellbent, that was meaningful that Miss Hellfire won on Saturday.’’

Lot 867 is out of a Galileo (Ire) mare and Tait said you can really see that when she walks, in her action. She’s an athletic and very correct filly with a great attitude.

Rounding out the draft for Twin Hills Stud is a Merchant Navy colt out of Zafina(Stratum), at Lot 706, who Tait says looks a straightforward, strong horse who would be easy to train and a big filly out of a Not A Single Doubt mare, Balancing Act and by Deep Field is at Lot 775. Looking very much like a Not A Single Doubt, she is out of a fast mare whose first foal, a full brother to Lot 775, Glory Bo Bo, was sold for $110,000 in last year’s Inglis Classic Yearling Sale and has since trialled very impressively and been sold to Hong Kong.